Dallas mayor wants Chiefs to move to Texas: 'Our market is big enough'

Dallas mayor Eric Johnson thinks it's time for the Kansas City Chiefs to return to Texas.

Following the news earlier this week that Jackson County, Missouri residents voted against a sales tax measure that would have helped fund renovations to Arrowhead Stadium, Johnson made a pitch for the Chiefs to join the Cowboys in Dallas.

"Dallas was named the top sports city in the United States because we play to win," Johnson said Wednesday in a statement to The Dallas Morning News. "As I have said previously, our market is big enough, growing enough, and loves football more than enough to support a second NFL team - especially a franchise (and an owner) with deep roots here."

The Chiefs were founded in 1959 as the Dallas Texans, one of the original teams in the American Football League. The franchise relocated to Kansas City in 1963 and rebranded as the Chiefs.

More than 58% of Jackson County voters rejected a plan Tuesday for a 40-year extension of a 3/8th cent stadium sales tax, which also would've helped fund a new downtown ballpark for the Kansas City Royals.

Johnson has expressed interest in bringing a second NFL team to Dallas before, though Cowboys owner Jerry Jones isn't too keen on the idea.

"I like (Johnson) personally, but he doesn't have the depth," Jones told The Dallas Morning News' Calvin Watkins in 2022. "He doesn't have the knowledge that others have regarding how unique Dallas is and how we enjoy the interest in the Cowboys. He wouldn't want to water that down as it relates to Dallas if he knew as much, and has spent as much time in sports as I have."

The Cowboys' $9-billion value is the highest among franchises in the NFL, according to Forbes, while the Chiefs' $4.5-billion value ranks them 23rd.